a) Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a system for the mass production of honey. In addition, the invention concerns a system for the reforestation of cleared land and the production of fuel alcohol. b) Description of Related Art
Honey is still obtained in the known historical manner. Namely, flowering flora provides a source of nectar for bees which convert the nectar to honey. The three factors which affect the honey obtained are:
1) the quantity of nectar available at a given time;
2) the quality of the nectar available at the given time; and
3) the duration of the given time in which nectar is available.
The first factor limits the size of a bee colony which may be supported by the nectar, i.e. a larger quantity of available nectar will support a larger colony of bees, which in turn will generally produce greater quantities of honey. The second factor limits the quality of the honey which is obtained, e.g. table grade or bakery grade. The third factor limits the periods of the year in which honey is obtained (honey is consumed by the bees during periods of the year in which nectar is not available).
There are generally three nectar periods of the year during which nectar is available- The first nectar period occurs when dandelions, fruit trees and spring wildflowers are flowering. The second, and generally most prolific nectar period occurs when clover, sweetclover and alfalfa are flowering. The third nectar period occurs when goldenrod and aster are flowering. At all other times of the year, the bees must be sustained by reserves of honey which are contained in the colonies. Generally speaking, the geographic areas in which the nectar periods of the year occur are sufficiently separated such that:
1) the bees are not able to take advantage of one or more of the nectar periods; PA1 2) the bees must be transported to a geographic area experiencing one of the nectar periods; or
3) the bees consume most of the nectar flying to and from a geographic area experiencing one of the nectar periods.
In practice, the bees are generally transported to geographic areas experiencing one of the nectar periods for the additional purpose of pollinating the flowering crops of a landowner. It is not uncommon for a beekeeper to generate more revenue by providing pollination services to a landowner than from the honey obtained during the nectar period.
With regard to a further aspect of the present invention, it is known that large areas of land have been commercially cleared, stripping the land of its valuable flora, and generally leaving little more than a collection of access and service roads. At present, known reforestation projects are long term, commercially unprofitable ventures, usually mandated by regulation intended to protect the environment, sometimes referred to as "green laws". Consequently, an unprotected indigenous population is often left with little or no means for generating revenue from the land once it has been cleared.
With regard to yet another aspect of the present invention, it is known that fuel alcohol may provide an efficient, clean source of fuel. Conventionally, various grains, molasses or sugar cane are used as a source of raw material for fermentation into fuel alcohol. However, the process for converting grain to fuel alcohol is generally not cost effective when considering more conventional processes, e.g. refining gasoline.